Finding Their Way: The ASCAP GPS Project

In the fall of 2010, ASCAP Nashville's Senior Director of Membership LeAnn Phelan approached me to have one of our "zoning" meetings [side note: a zoning meeting is just a way of saying "brainstorming" that seems more exciting and fun]. Her idea was an initiative to match developing songwriters with the most talented publishers on Music Row. After some deliberation we decided to call it the ASCAP GPS Project. GPS stands for Guidance from Publishers for Songwriters. With the name for the program in place, we were up and running.

LeAnn introduced the idea to Nashville's Membership staff during a creating meeting in November of 2010. The goal was simple. Each staff member had to nominate one to three songwriters whose material, talent and work ethic exemplified the level of excellence that we wanted to showcase to our Nashville publishing community. In January of 2011 the program was launched.

Here's how it runs: each writer is paired with a total of six different publishers throughout the year. The writer has an initial meeting in month one and a follow-up meeting in month two. After the writer has met with the publisher twice, he or she is paired with a new publisher.

The publishing mentors that agreed to be a part of the program are simply the best in the business. We've been fortunate to have executives from both major & independent publishing companies like Sony/ATV, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell, EMI, BMG Rights, Carnival Music, Cornman Music, Seagayle, Combustion, THIS Music and Ten Ten Music.

There have been so many positive outcomes for every writer and publisher through the first year and a half of the GPS Project. Some notable highlights:

• Rob Blackledge signing a publishing deal with Vandermont Music
  
• Chris Harris signing to Paul Compton Music
• Brent Wesley signing to Seagayle Music
• Jacob Davis signing to Wrensong Music
• Ryan Hurd signing to Universal Music Publishing Group
• Graci Phillips being selected to play the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO showcase
• Sara Haze signing to Universal Music Publishing Group

...as well as a few other participants that are currently negotiating publishing contracts that I can’t list yet! The program has been a runaway success for both the ASCAP writers & publishers. Thanks to LeAnn's idea and the hard work of the Nashville membership staff, the project continues to grow and develop a reputation as one of the most coveted programs that our office has to offer!